He said: "Generally speaking, most of the drivers are running and working in vehicles which are perfectly safe but there is a small minority who are not.

"In this case 11 out of 42 were driving with defects so bad that they had to be taken off the road immediately.

"All of these cars stopped were out plying for hire or were out working on bookings."

Members of the taxi licensing authority also took part in the stop checks and temporarily suspended four drivers during the night for bad housekeeping practice, such as failing to carry a first aid kit in their cars.

Sgt Rogers added: "We are now building up a database of offenders. Unfortunately, there are a few patterns forming with some of the operators.

"We will be taking action with them and if there is still no improvement they could have their licence taken from them.

"From these figures, they warrant another checkpoint before Christmas."

* Taxi fares for the Christmas period will begin at 6pm on December 24 until 6am on December 27.

The flat rate will increase by 30p and an increase of 10p will be added to every 0.183km travelled.

The fares will also apply between 6pm on December 31 and 6am on January 2.